Leroy "JR" LaPlante

AmeriCorps Legal Fellow with South Dakota Access to Justice, 2009

Leroy "JR" LaPlante, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, has been passionate about improving government and tribal relations all his life. JR served as an AmeriCorps Legal Fellow with South Dakota Access to Justice in 2009. After that, he opened a private law practice serving the needs of tribes in the state and served as Chief Justice for the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe. Thanks to the knowledge and confidence JR gained as an AmeriCorps member, he’s now the first Secretary of Tribal Relations in his home state of South Dakota, appointed by the governor. In his daily life, JR says, “I carry the AmeriCorps values – lead, serve others and get things done – every day, and I foster those values among my staff and the people I work with in state and tribal government. Living these values daily has put my career on a lifelong trajectory of public service."

State Secretary of Tribal Relations

Pierre, SD

“I carry the AmeriCorps values – lead, serve others and get things done – every day, and foster those values among the people I work with in state and tribal government. Living these values daily has put me on a lifelong trajectory of public service."